I'll sum up why it is my third favorite game of all time to the best of my ability. Let's see... This is going to be difficult. I haven't played the game in quite a long time now, and there are a lot of reasons I loved it.
I love the open world, for one thing. Just love it. It's honestly the first game I ever played with a totally free-roam concept, with a world that spans some quite impressive distances. And the world is filled out with plenty of landmarks, wildlife and dangers, little touches like the dozens of varieties of plants that you can harvest from, hundreds of characters (or over a thousand, if you have all the plug-ins and the expansion).
I actually like all the different characters a lot. The cities are alive with plenty of people all around, and throughout the game, the amount of people you can talk to with something of substance to say to you is outstanding. People often complain about how most of the characters lacked personality, and while I understand what they're getting at, I felt they were all distinguished from each other enough for it to feel like a ton of people in a large world with their own things going on in their lives, their own characteristics, their own things to say to me much of the time. The lack of exaggerated or emphasized personalities isn't something that detracts from a game for me.
People also complain about the stupid conversations, but I love 'em, they make for some great laughs. :P Normally, ridiculous behavior such as you often see from the NPC's in Oblivion is something that would detract from a game for me, but Oblivion is a game where it's easy to not take things seriously all the time. Somehow, silly conversations, floaty physics, forest watchmen shooting arrows at each other for no apparent reason... it's all just ways the game provides entertainment for me.
The music is outstanding and perfectly fits the game's feel. It goes hand in hand with the open world just right. Never in a game before Oblivion have I looked at a sunset behind a monolithic city from a cliff I traveled to manually and become absorbed into the beauty of it and the perfectly entertwined beauty of the music. I feel, in that moment, like I'm actually standing there in that world, looking at the wondrous Imperial City from far, far away as I lean on the old wooden fence, with the music being an expression of my emotion in that moment.
Quests upon quests upon quests upon quests... And I thought all of them were enjoyable to partake in, and some were a blast. The main story arc could have been much better, make no mistake, but like I said, it's easy to not take things seriously in Oblivion for me, and it somehow never really gets to me. I'm too busy being enthralled in the world and all the things there are to do to care, really.
The game makes me laugh all the time. I've already mentioned some of the things that are funny. But even just simple things that aren't always meant to be humorous make me laugh. Sometimes I laugh just when I kill an enemy and he falls in a certain way, or he shouts a certain battle cry, or something rather normal happens. It reminds me of Crysis, in this respect. I grab a Korean soldier and toss him into one of his buddies; I laugh. I flip a humvee and send it tumbling over a bunch of NK's; I laugh. A NK does one of their "AAAAGGGHHH!!!" battle screams (or whatever they are); I laugh. I don't know how to explain it. It's one of those things where the event is so entertaining, I laugh in both glee and humor, even if it wasn't a humorous event necessarily. Oblivion has many of these kinds of moments for me.
I actually like the combat, believe it or not. It could have been better, sure, but I somehow don't ever get annoyed by the repetitive nature of it. It's satisfying to me in the same way that FEAR's repetitious gunplay is consistently satisfying.
There's more, and I ultimately feel like I've explained why I like the game inadequately, but I've spent enough time on this. Someday I'll review the game (a long time from now), and then you'll know all the reasons I utterly love Oblivion. :P
EDIT - By the way, I just saw your mudcrab video on Youtube. Ever seen a bandit go crazy against a couple mudcrabs on the beach, shouting challenges and taunts at it? ****ing hilarious. Ever seen a bandit get killed by a bunch of mudcrabs mobbing him just after he shouted challenges and taunts at them (willl only happen toward the beginning of the game when bandits' levels are low)? ****ING HILARIOUSER.
JP_Russell
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